Margie’s Insights & Interviews
Welcome to Margie’s blog where she shares personal stories, interviews, tools and more for living bravely.
Is our quest for happiness making us unhappy? with Professor Tal Ben-Shahar
Creator of the most popular class in Harvard University’s history, bestselling author and positive psychology expert Tal Ben-Shahar unpacks the science of happiness to reveal the keys to a happier life and why expecting to be happy sets us up to suffer. In this...
Confront your deepest fear, change the world with Marianne Williamson
“Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” Author of 12 books, Marianne Williamson has inspired millions globally to choose love over fear. In this passionate conversation, she makes a fiery and unapologetic call to action to take full responsibility,...
Dare To Do More Than You Think You Can
Firstly, thank you for your lovely notes in response to my recent article about visiting Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya. Of course, my message was about far more than how to help those who live there escape from the poverty they are born into. It was about the...
Kibera Slum – Be At Cause, Not Effect
It’s hard to believe it has been two years since I stepped onto the ‘roof top of Africa’ – Mt Kilimanjaro - after a grueling 9-hour ascent with my husband and our four children. (Here’s the blog I wrote about 'summit day' soon after.) While our view ascending...
Handling Change When Plans Derail
“Are you sitting down?” my husband asked down the phone line from across the world. As I braced myself, he delivered the news. His company needed/wanted/voluntold him to take up a role in Singapore. This was not our plan. Not even close. However, because my husband...
What Makes You Feel Alive?
Several years ago I decided to run my first Live Brave Weekend for women, and subsequently, other Live Brave programs for women and men. The idea for them came after realizing that many people could benefit from a deeper, more transformative experience than my...
Dare to Wing It
Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, credits Amazon’s explosive growth with his high-velocity decision making; he makes decisions with only 70% of key information. To some, that may seem a little foolhardy. To others, it’s just evidence of the importance of being willing to...
Reset Your Compass
Wow, it's hard to believe we are over half way through 2018. I realized over the weekend that, amid all my travels this year (five trips across the globe and counting) I've got distracted from some of the commitments I made to myself earlier this year. But you know...
Ditch Looking Good For Doing Good
Aloha from Hawaii where I’ve just spoken to a fabulous group of leaders from Berkshire Hathaway. If you aren’t familiar with the name, you are probably familiar with their chairman and founder Warren Buffett. One of the things I admire most about Warren is his...
Mental Illness: Let’s Extend Compassion and Remove the Stigma
The last time I spoke to my youngest brother Peter was on his 31st birthday. Six times, I had tried to get through, but each time the phone connection dropped out. Finally, on the seventh attempt, it went through. I was at my home in McLean, Virginia. He was in a...
The Deathbed Test
Two weeks ago I got an email from the dean of academics at my daughters’ school notifying me that she was to be inducted into her school’s Cum Laude academic honor society. They looked forward to seeing my husband and me there. Maddy is finishing high school in...
WomenWill Press For Progress
When Google invited me to fly to Japan to be a champion for their Womenwill program, it was an easy 'yes’. First up, I’d never been to Japan before. Second, I care a lot about helping women step into their power as change-makers. So like I say, it was an easy yes!...
Move From Dreaming To Doing
For seven long years, Brenda Keane sat on her dream of having her own line of activewear. She had a strong feeling that there were many women, with curvy figures like herself, that were desperate to find fun, colorful (and functional!) activewear, but her fear of...
Message From Myanmar: Be The Change
Last week I took my daughter, Maddy to Myanmar. My mother-in-law, Diana, was born in Burma (Myanmar’s name until 1989) so I’ve long been curious about the country that had fallen from one of Asia’s more prosperous countries to one of its poorest. As we walked around...
Own Your ‘Enoughness’
I arrived back from an incredible few days in Tokyo with Google to kick off their Womenwill program. The mission of Womenwill is to elevate women around the world and leverage the technology to inspire and empower women economically and socially. Of course, there are...
5 Intuitive Ways to Discern Good Advice From Bad
Let’s face it. If you’re looking for advice, you’ll find no shortage of it—on how to invest your money, raise your kids or navigate your next career move. I’ve been given copious amounts of advice over the years. “You should always wear red,” one branding expert told...
7 Keys To Make Changes That Stick In 2018!
"I don’t do resolutions,” Jane told me last week. “What’s the point? I never keep them.” You probably know a few people like Jane yourself. Perhaps you’re one of them! In your heart, you know you want to make changes in your life, but year after year you keep being...
Shelve The Shoulds
This time of year comes with a lot of expectations, social pressures and family traditions - some of which can suck the joy from the festive season and leave us feeling stressed out, burnt out and anything but Merry come December 25th. When you feel the pressure to...
Quiet Your Inner Critic
You are probably familiar with the words of my friend Marianne Williamson. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.” It’s a...
What Dad Taught Me About Thanksgiving
It’s Thanksgiving week, at least for all Americans, so I thought I’d pen a few thoughts on gratitude to mark this special holiday. My dad, who isn't an American but married my mum who is, taught me the most lessons I've ever learned about Thanksgiving. Over the years...
